The tenderness of the pork loin
makes it the most desirable cut of meat for the entire family, including kids and
elderly people, as such meat is quite easy to chew. There may be several
methods to cook pork loin but smoking it would be like icing on the cake and
that is what we will be discussing here, with a focus
more towards the smoking cook time it takes.
Prerequisites:
Smoking results for pork
tenderloins or anything up for smoke are
best achieved when all the prerequisites or the steps coming earlier in the preparation
phase are met in the best order. If you
do it all right then you will be able to please even the toughest guests at
home who usually have complaints about the meat to be done in some other way.
First,
you should have a quality electric smoker in good working condition. You should
be in possession of an internal meat temperature thermometer in order to get
the accurate internal temperature of the meat at different phases of smoking.
Moreover, the selection and proper usage of woodchips are also critical to smoking success. Ideally and as per the
experts, for pork tenderloins, the best woodchips to consider are maple, apple wood,
and hickory etc.
The prep time is fairly quick, just add a dry rub, such as kosher salt, peppercorns and brown sugar. If you let this marinade over night the salt will start the brining process, which is known to help produce a more flavorful piece of meat.
Knowing about the exact time pork loins take to smoke:
Let us start with a rule of thumb
and that is to allow approximately 1.5 to 2 hours of cooking time per pound of pork loin.
Therefore, if you are looking to smoke 5 pounds of pork loin then allow an
estimated total time of 7.5 to 10 hours. Your internal meat temperature thermometer would
be your guide all through the smoking process and you can use it to determine
the internal temperature of the meat. Cooking should be continued until the
internal temperature reaches about 145 degrees F. However, some
experts also believe that 140 degrees F
is also the lowest fine temperature level to achieve and that is perfectly fine
too. Be sure to use your meat thermometer to check the internal temperature.
The most critical related aspect
to smoking time is the temperature of the electric smoker to set. The electric
smoker could be set at a temperature of 225 degrees in order to get the perfect
results.
The myth about perfectly smoking pork
loin:
There are many myths surrounding
the smoked pork tenderloin and multiple other meat recipes for that matter. All
of them are not true and this is the time
to bust one crucial myth in order to make the smoking of pork loin, a quite
enjoyable and tasteful experience for you. The myth is that, since pork loins
are boneless and extremely tender meat, so there
is no need to go for the low and slow heat approach. The myth also says that a
pork loin of 5 pound meat could be cooked in 2 to 2.5 hours when the electric
smoker is set at a temperature of 350 degrees F. However, this might work for
some who are willing to compromise for some part of the smoked meat, but
usually doesn’t work for most of the people.
The truth is that the pork loin
should also be cooked with a low and slow heat approach in order to get the
best results. People who prefer a juicy inside and a crispier or crusty outside
could only get it through low and slow cooking technique.
The above is true smoking guidelines which are USDA approved.
Some post-smoking tips to get the best-smoked pork loin on your table: Smoking completed doesn’t mean that the food is ready to be served. Rather, you should allow at least 10 minutes to the pork loin to rest at room temperature. Once done then you can slice the meat as per your preference. You can serve it best with the BBQ sauce, which is actually the unanimous choice of the majority of the pork or general meat lovers.